Can and Can't Change
by magewriter
Summary: SashaMilla fanfic where Sasha kisses Milla, Milla invades his mental personal space, and Sasha gets mad. He makes it up to her and they get together. Really sweet SashaMilla
1. Mental Personal Space

Can and Can't Change

By Magewriter

Chapter 1: Mental Personal Space

The characters and most of the places, titles, and items belong to Tim Schafer and the Psyconauts crew.

"I love you." And she kissed him. It was the best moment of his life. Then they were separated by the government, who needed each of their distinct talents for separate missions. To this day, he had never been brave enough to say the same thing to her. If she looked at his mind when he was near her, she wouldn't see it then. He'd learned to hold in his emotions after he ran away. If a psychic saw that he was a runaway… well, after that one time, he was afraid of his dad. And so confused… Then he'd gone to Whispering Rock and met Milla. She was nice. She had a free spirit, and he liked that. Her mind was full of color and excitement. She had pretty clothes, too. She said she made them. They made her figure look even prettier. Of course, that was just teenage fantasy. When he was older, he'd gone to work for cruller, because he understood. He'd met Milla again. No one could forget that accent. She wore dresses then, too. That was when he'd figured out that he loved her. They were Psycadets when it happened. They met each other at a party. Now, it was the Psychic Age. He'd written a poem about her. First person, actually.

She is my sun,

The point of light

That ignites my heart

And warms my mind.

Without her,

Coldness.

Desolate.

No light,

No warmth.

Life has no meaning.

Then she comes.

Goddess.

She doesn't know.

She loves the old me,

Who always had to hide.

So I have to continue to hide.

Because if she knew…

I am afraid.

I don't know of what.

He could never show it to her. He wasn't brave enough. She could never know. She loved the old him. Her kiss… it was ecstasy. Pure happiness. Color, light, warmth, whatever you called it, it was the happiest part of his life. But he could never tell her. Not after this long.

Heh. For most of his life, he'd held in his emotions. When he was a teenager, he'd held in his emotions in fear. When he became a Psyconaut, his life, all the events, got all jumbled together, and he liked to know that there was one thing in his mind that was organized. Everything had its own place in his little cube, and he knew where everything was. He could call up any memory whenever he wanted to, and go there when he needed some quiet time. The GPC wasn't any good for that. You could still hear.

Then there was her lab. When she wasn't there, it was absolute wreckage. When she was there, the lamps were "boogying," in her words, the chairs, tables, and most of the other furnishings were floating at one angle or another (she said she did that on purpose, to add some variety. She didn't ever seem to think that bright colors were enough.) When you came in, you were greeted by her beautiful voice and an overly-bright chair with some bright, flower-shaped pillows. It was her way of showing off. She'd always wanted to be an actress, but she'd always refused to do anything less that television or a movie. That was why she grew her hair out, she said. He knew it must hurt to brush it. He remembered the faces his sister had always made when she had her hair brushed. Milla just liked to be showy. The bright colors, the colored, moving lamps, the sheer length of her hair, were all her ways of showing off. She always did her best to be amazing, despite all the things that had happened to her. When psyconauts were put together, they were required to spend at least an hour going through the other person's mind. He knew she suspected something. What else would she think? His mind was a cube. But inside that cube, only one thought was unorganized. It was the thought of her. If he filed it all away, what was to stop him from forgetting even one of those moments?

He thought those thoughts in his lab. He didn't know if they were good or bad. He was so confused… Then he heard a noise, felt some excitement… Raz was here. No more fantasies. He shoved them all back into his cube and called some images up near the surface. He knew what to do for this. This child was so powerful, so clever, that it had been an irresistible challenge. He was also very intriguing. He had already developed his basic skills. The boy was ten! TEN! He was a third of Sasha's age, and he was developing quickly.

That was funny. He KNEW there was something weird about Sasha's mind. Then Sasha got squished. So… Now he was off to the lake to see Milla. He'd collect arrowheads on the way. And try shooting the squirrel with the golden acorn that he needed for the scavenger hunt (not the squirrel, the acorn). Oh, and the big, black bear, and the rock on the little spring. And he might as well get some arrowheads while he was there. There were tons on the big sandstone rocks. Or did they just look like sandstone? They had the little stripes, kind of like Milla's dress, that were normal in sandstone. Maybe they'd formed around psitanium deposits. He did that, then explored one of the caves. It led to a big cavern with water on the floor. He soon found that there were a lot of arrowheads at the lake, too. Behind the sand, near the bridge. And there was a psi card on a little ledge beyond some conveniently-growing trees. He talked to in-love-with-his-boat Cruller and got a little canoe. He paddled up to Milla's little area and talked to her for a minute. Then he was inside the grooviest part of becoming a psyconaut. And beat stupid Bobby Zilch at the race on the first try.

Milla didn't believe him, but Lili did. About the mental dentist. And the meat plants. And Dogan's brain. Even if he had exploded four people's heads, he was still peaceful.

That little boy had the weirdest thoughts. It was odd, though. Lili had been thinking the same thing. Her mind was extremely susceptible to mind reading. Maybe Milla could help her with that.

Milla had been shocked and overjoyed when she learned about Sasha's compliment to her. She decided to put up a note on the message board that she'd be under the GPC. Then she'd take that down and put the sign on the trapdoor under her floating area. It opened out, so no one fell through accidentally. It was also based on the sand, so it wouldn't topple over if someone _did _hit the beanbag chair under the opening after that fall. Sasha had helped her with the design plans. He'd also helped her with the trapdoor. Then they'd had to go on a "special" government mission, where they were the only two psyconauts, with four others. They'd decided not to tell the others. People were so… cautious, around psychics. Then, the first night, she had levitated in her sleep. She had a tendency to sleep in, so… Usually she woke up when she hit the ceiling, but they were outside… then Sasha forgot and levitated his cigarette. Hmmm. Both found out through levitation.

She decided to go to Sasha's lab just before sunset. She had plans for tonight.

She thought some odd thoughts as she drifted toward the GPC. She didn't like the tunnels. She was a little claustrophobic, and those tunnels drummed at her mind. She chose to float to his lab instead.

It was a little after 6:00, about sunset. He felt the happy, free sensation that he only got when Milla was around. Seconds later, she drifted down behind him, light as a feather.

"It's sunset." There was no question as to whether he'd known she was there. "I know. I just checked my watch." "Have you ever watched the sunset from the top of the GPC?" "Have you ever watched it from your lab?" "Yes, but it wasn't nearly so beautiful, so I went back on top." That perfect grammar… "Well, the answer is no." "Do you want to? I'm going back up." "I'm colorblind." "We can talk." "Um… okay." She wasn't calling him 'darling.' That could only mean one of two things, and since she didn't seem angry at him…

He hadn't lied about being colorblind. Only in his mind was there color. Oh, well. She'd been talking about what the sunset meant in Brazil. Then she said about America. "And here… it means…" Then he did the one thing he never thought he could do. He kissed her. It was the best moment of his life.

"Hey, Sasha! I… uh… do you want me to come back later?" The little girl floated up beside him. "Of _course_ they want you to leave them alone. They were having a moment." "Oh, uh, sorry." "Ugh, boys."

Of course, Milla handled the situation perfectly. She was so… beautiful. Perfect in every way. "Okay, kids, run along. I'm sure it can wait a couple of minutes. I'll be back at my lab in a couple of minutes, darlings. We can talk then, okay? I need to talk with Sasha a little bit more."

"Are you gonna kiss him again?" "Raz! Shut _up_ already!" The girl – he didn't know her name -- dragged Razputin off, yelling at him. He sighed. "Hey, at least they didn't see into our minds. I like what you think of me, by the way, darling." That… Minx! She'd gotten into his mind, without setting off any sensors, without him noticing, and plunged into his deepest thoughts! "Nice poem, too. I would suggest another line, separating 'I don't know' from 'of what.' It might add a little drama."

At that moment, he could see nothing other to say than "You weren't supposed to see that." "Oh, I know, darling! But I enjoy poetry. gasp do you want to see some of my poems about you? Only the good ones, of course." He floated up, angry, but he couldn't yell. Not at her. Instead, he darted down into the tunnels. He was headed for the underground cave. He could go to the test lab and get rid of her. She was so… casual, about seeing his deepest secret. It hurt him. It pierced him through his heart.

Had she lost him? No, there was that underground rumble… Oh, no. Not Cruller's cave. It was spooky in there. It was like she had two minds, and she couldn't handle it. But she had to go there, to apologize to him. He just always took everything that was thrown at him and kept on going. She hadn't meant to hurt him. Since she refused to go down to that hideous cave, she'd have to make it up to him somehow. It would be tricky. He was just as clever as she, but he didn't use his cleverness for the same purposes she did. He taught himself skills, while she poked around in other people's minds to figure out what skills she might be missing. Why couldn't he realize that she hadn't meant anything bad?


	2. Kiss and Make Up

Due to comments (Happy!) from readers, I'm going to put names before each character switch. And I meant to do story-type paragraphs. That's how I write. Oh, and I don't mind bad messages, as long as they're detailed. I can only make stuff better if I know what's wrong with it.

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Chapter 2: Kiss and Make Up

Milla: Maybe if… No. The way to a man's heart was through his stomach, but Sasha was no man. He was perfection. She went to talk to Lili.

"This is hard. He isn't the kind of person you can just give chocolates to. It has to be really, really personal… Maybe… you could give him one of your secrets. But what secrets do _you_ have?" "Everyone has secrets, Lili. Things that aren't on your file and that you won't let anyone see. He didn't want me to se that poem, but he's smart enough to give me a second chance." She rushed to Sasha's lab then. She would show him why her lab was in a lake, why she never did projects concerning fire, and why she didn't like the kids to use pyrokinesis. It was also why she was a vegetarian. Once your loved ones have burned, meat doesn't really have the same appeal.

Sasha: He missed her, and it drove him crazy. On the one proverbial hand, he couldn't forgive her because (1) it would make him look weak in the eyes of Psyconauts Headquarters, and that was his main source of income, and (2) she had to learn that the things inside of his cube were private.

But then e felt her coming… from the tunnels! It made him feel horrible, but he shoved that inside his cube to deal with later. She wouldn't feel that she had done the right thing until she had apologized her way, and he couldn't stand to see her feeling guilty. Still….

Milla: She guided him steadily through her mind, to her Secrets Room. All Psyconauts had them. She guessed that Sasha's was his cube. One heckuva secrets room, huh? Try as she might, she just couldn't lighten the moment. Finally, he was there. She felt his confusion at the furnishings; some rocking horses, a toy chest, and a mental vault. She told him to punch the vault, and he saw it. Then she took him through the chest. On the outside, she began to cry. She had been so… powerless. Her orphans, as close as sons or daughters, had been killed so horribly. (Not implying that she had died or anything, just meaning that they were orphans under her supervision) But before Hacho (please tell me if that means anything in Portuguese or Spanish or anything) had died from the smoke in his lungs, he had whispered, (translated) "Save us, Milla." Sasha didn't know that part, but he hugged her, or at least supported her, when she dissolved into tears in his arms. At that moment, she knew that she had regained his trust. That was good. She didn't have any more secrets left.

Oooh, the suspense. It wasn't the right time for another kiss, but you'll know it's the end of the story when the chapter ends in a kiss after they've been on a mission after a while of being separated. Basic ushy-gushy love stuff. Oh, and sorry the chapters are so short.


	3. Mind, not Body

Chapter 3: Mind, Not Body

OK, I know I'm using Tyraa Rane's idea from Two to Tango, which is **_so_** better than any of my fanfic, but it's not much, just that Truman's divorced. And I don't own Map Quest, either.

To Sunset Sea: I'm writing a trilogy with 4 super-long sections just because I was brave enough to tell my friend a dumb idea I had. Usually, people know you don't like flames (I'm a rare exception) so they don't write them. If people don't like it, they just don't comment.

Milla: The summer camp was over, Morry was sane, and Sasha had been taken from her. His only complaint about the mission was that the government used titles, not last names, so the envelope was labeled "Sasha the Sharp-Shooter" instead of "Sasha Nein." She didn't know what was worse: his acceptance or that they had just fallen into love in her eyes. Both were real, and also real was the fact that he hadn't even sent her the usual postcard with one word on it. Usually, the word was "Hi," but on his last trip, he'd sent her one that said "Hi, Milla." He didn't talk much, and unless he was documenting experiment results, he wrote even less. But now, she wondered if she really had regained his trust after, or if he really cared. She started to convince herself that things were different with this new emotion of his.

Sasha:

"Sasha, wake up! The coffee's ready."

"Ugh! Truman, what time is it?"

A completely different voice answered him than had woken him up. "It is precisely 3:06 AM. At 3:05 AM, I woke to the smell of espresso and found out that my daughter had stowed away in the trunk of my car. If I cover for you, would you drive her home? I would die inside if she got hurt."

Lili spoke then, and Sasha found out, for the second time that morning, that he didn't like high-pitched voices at 3 AM. "Oh, and Mom said she wants her alimony in the next week or she's taking you to court again."

"WHAT! I took care of you for a month! Our agreement was that I don't have to pay her now!"

"She was saying she needed the money because she doesn't have a steady job yet, but she was _thinking_ she might be able to get a used Cadillac in a year if this works."

"What!"

"And she also said that since she took care of me for one of those days, it doesn't count. And you have to pay for gas. I was actually helping you. Now you've taken care of me for all 31 days. And we both know you can't spare Sasha right now."

"Wait a minute. You were the most easily-read mind at Whispering Rock. Usually"

"The Unhidden can't read minds easily, I know, dad. Where do you think I get my unhiddenness _from_? Not from _you_! Huh, men." She left then, without a word. She had just outspoken the head of the Psychonauts. Her being her father's daughter, Sasha suspected that she did that often.

"Why do _I_ have to take her? Remember that we're equals on this mission."

"Because you have the right complexion. I'll say you got food poisoning or something. _Please,_ Sasha. She means everything to me." Sasha hated to see people in a state such as that, so he took pity on his friend.

"I need to use the internet first. Map Quest knows everything."

So… yeah. That's the chapter. Lili slept in the car, by the way. That's how they didn't catch any of her thoughts. I just couldn't fit that in there. The title is that they're together in their minds, but aren't physically close. This is one of the "Humor" chapters, if you hadn't noticed. I 3 dialogue!


	4. Forgotten?

Chapter 4: Forgotten?

OK, I have major writer's block, so I'm expecting a psycho-portal at any moment… Nope. OK, I'm writing this anyway.

Lili: Wow. Sasha, the contained, intelligent senior Psychonaut couldn't find his way around the interstate. She had to bring that up next summer.

Sasha: He was _sooooo_ glad that Lili didn't know how to brew decent coffee. At 4:00 AM, he had needed the three or four shots of espresso that had been contained in that one coffee mug. Wait… Was Maryland upside-down? He couldn't be sure.

"Umm… You were supposed to take that last exit, then we'd be just about home."

"!$"

"You shouldn't swear. I'm only ten, you know."

"If you don't shut up now, I'll cut that little tongue of yours from your head, and take whatever other body parts happen to come with it!" It was morning, he was angry, and that had been his father's favorite threat. Like father, like son. That was when he realized that he really _shouldn't_ be driving. He didn't think in English expressions. He just didn't. He pulled over and did some procedures that always woke him up. Lili took advantage of those moments to put a shield around his head. A very small shield. He was mad at her for nearly suffocating him, but his job was more important to him than revenge. Right now, anyway. He took a deep breath, shoved the anger into his cube, and looped around.

Milla: She sifted through the camp mail. She was now the most effective sorting system that the camp had had in years. She sorted through postcards. Then Florida… none. Letters… M... M… M… She found several names, but none quite like "Milla." Had Sasha forgotten her? No… The post office had just lost her letter. That was it. It had to be. She left the parking lot. She'd have a salad, a latte, and then she'd go back to the lake and begin teaching for the day.

Sasha: A sudden thought struck him: He'd forgotten to write to Milla. He parked in front of a general supplies store. "Come on, Lili. I have to get a card."

Sigh "Okay. But this better not take forever."

"Milla doesn't expect much."

"Oh, come_ on,_ it _has_ to be sweet. Maybe with a poem. No, take that back. You aren't the 'poetry' type.

He ran into the store, grabbed a bright card, paid for it, and ran out, trailing Lili behind him.

_Later, after much confusion and lostedness_

She was finally home, and he could copy his poem onto the card. When he was done with that, he walked into the post office and mailed it to Milla Vodello, Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, Psychonautic Training Grounds, WA, 54321

Milla (a couple days later, not that she would've lasted much longer anyway) A LETTER! At long last, proof that Sasha cared!

She opened it.

_Hello, Milla. I thought you might want this._

_She is my sun,_

_The point of light_

_That ignites my heart_

_And warms my mind._

_Without her,_

_Coldness._

_Desolate._

_No light,_

_No warmth._

_Life has no meaning._

_Then she comes._

_Goddess._

_She doesn't know._

_She loves the old me,_

_Who always had to hide._

_So I have to continue to hide._

_Because if she knew…_

_I am afraid._

_I don't know of what._

_I hope you enjoy it._

_-Sasha._

It was a love letter. Sasha had sent her a love letter. She cried. It was the happiest moment of her life.

IT'S SO SWEET! I didn't think I'd be using that poem again, but now the whole legal thing's over with the Zanottos, so now it's gonna be the stuff that makes your heart turn into chocolate.


	5. Home Again, Home Again

Chapter 6: Home Again, Home Again

Yeah, the last couple chapters were me writing myself out of a corner, and I hope I never have to do that again because they were really confusing and had no point except to avoid telling about "What Do Psychonauts Do All Day" because I have no clue. I like the end of the last chapter, though. It was sweet. So here is SashaMilla in its purest form.

Dogan, I love you! ;)

Sasha: It was good to see Milla again. After the whole disaster with Truman's kid, then all the Psychonauts stuff, even the thoughts of having to deal with the dumb little kids of Whispering Rock were masked by the thought of seeing Milla again. Whispering Rock was a summer camp, but, as psychic kids were sometimes not accepted by anyone around them, it was also a refuge for psychic children. Unofficially, of course. Among them, of course, was Dogan. Sasha didn't know what Milla saw in him. Sure, he was a powerful psychic, but he was too unstable to do anything with that power. He needed to learn control.

He rode the tunnels to the lake, levitated to Milla's docking area, and lifted the door telekinetically. He dropped down. Milla turned around.

"Hi, Milla."

Milla: It all spilled out so quickly. She just couldn't bottle up her emotions like Sasha could.

"Oh, Sasha, it was so sweet, see, I still have the letter, I'll treasure it forever, it was so nice of you to send me it, it really shows me how much you care…." All of the thoughts in her mind poured into his. After that, though, he put two gloved fingers to her lips, bent her backwards over his knee, and kissed her.

Joy exploded in both of their minds. His feelings for her were released, as were hers for him. All of these feelings of love, joy, and gratitude melded together and formed a heart-shaped bubble that, if it had been formed of anything other that emotion, would have been pink or red. It was an expanding bubble of love, pure and simple. They knew then that they were truly meant for each other.

Right then, thoughts and worries didn't matter, and they were both feeling something so powerful that it could never be explained in words. The kiss lasted for maybe half a minute, but they felt more then than they had ever felt in one hour of their lives. Even Milla had never felt such strong feeling in any part of her life. They reached an unspoken decision then that, in that small fragment of time, was even unthought by both of them. They would be together forever.

Yeah, I know that's a little overdone on the love part, but let's face it, it makes good filler. They needed to kiss like that sometime, and I can't make something like that into just a little thing. It's a short chapter, but it's supposed to be read slowly, and for the amount of space it takes up, the working took forever. The network hates me, so even though I've written upgrades for both stories tonight, I can't upgrade until next morning. It heckuv sux.

Thanks, Violetwitch! Great to know that more than four people read my fanfic!


	6. Chocolate and Chili Peppers

Chapter 6: Chocolate and Chili Peppers

OMG I am SO sorry that I screwed up! I meant to replace Chapter 7, but then I was thinking about how the comment at the end was about Chap. 6, so now I have to retype the whole thing! (I don't keep the actual chapters on my computer, I just copy them from the site 'cuz they're mine already) I am SO SORRY! I already know the plotline of the story, though, so it should only be about half an hour 'til it's back up.

FluffleNeCharka: Read the first 3 words of this chapter, then tell me if you're still confuzzled.

Sasha: At the wedding, there were very few people. Part of the reason for this was that, apart from Psychonaut officials, Sasha hardly knew anyone. The other part was that when there was a marriage with even one psychonaut, you didn't want to have too many minds in that close proximity. Therefore, he had limited the number of people in attendance to 50. Raz was the ring bearer (and disappointed about having a position with that dumb of a title) and Lili was the flower girl. Truman, of course, was Sasha's best man. Milla had, of course, jazzed up her wedding dress with the same category of ribbons as were braided into her hair: bright.

At the reception, there was only one wedding game. It was a contest between Sasha and Milla to see who could eat more chili peppers. Milla won, of course, because she'd grown up in a country where they use a lot of chilies and enjoy spicy food. Then they cut the cake. It was chocolate. Milla had arranged that. She said that then it was like the first time they'd met, when she'd made hot chocolate with chili peppers.

At last, the reception was over.

"So, darling," Milla said as they were driving back to Psychonauts HQ, "Are you ready for the next step?"

"Umm… What 'next step' would that be?" Hopefully she didn't mean…

"Applying to be partners, of course. That's what all Psychonauts do, if they haven't already."

"Oh."

"Oh, you thought I meant… No, darling. Not for a long time, if ever."

"Okay."

Then a thought occurred to him. "We aren't partners anymore?"

"Well, you see, darling, I thought you needed some alone time, so then I applied for us to not be partners anymore. Then I got the letter, then you kissed me, and now we've just been married, so… I haven't had much time. You and I are officially paired with Psycadets. So now we have to reapply. They'll pair with other Psychonauts, and we'll be together on most of our missions." Of course, they couldn't be together on _all_ of the missions. She was too bubbly for some missions, just as he was too suspicious-looking. But it didn't usually matter.

Milla: She snuggled up next to him. She had no clue what he was thinking. He could think of any number of things while he was driving. She was just glad to be next to him. Little did she know what she was in for.

Yeah and then there's the next chapter. Sorry if you got confused. I really didn't mean to.


	7. Outbursts

Chapter 7: Outbursts

Did anyone ever think about how, if Sasha fell in love with Milla, how he'd have to loosen up a lot? I think it'd be like puberty (without the physical effects, of course), with all the outbursts and stuff. The funny part is that Sasha's, like, thirty or something, and he's acting like a teenager.

"!$"

"Sasha, darling, you shouldn't swear!"

Milla's perspective: Sasha had been acting so… weird, lately. He was having all these angry outbursts. It seemed that he was acting more like a high-schooler than an adult.

"Milla, the computer just erased all five pages of my report. I have a right to be mad."

"Yes, darling, but you don't have to swear. Maybe that's just telling you that you should write shorter reports for the files. Don't write down everything we've done, just the things that mattered."

sigh "Milla, just let me write. The report is half an hour late already."

"Can I type it, darling?"

"Sure. Knock yourself out."

"I'd prefer not to, darling." She progressed to write:

We recovered the psitanium together and are sending it back to HQ.

She sent the e-mail.

Sasha just didn't understand that the Psychonauts didn't have time to scan his reports, so they usually just xeroxed them and gave them to the Psycadets to study. Then the cadets summarized them and gave them back to the Psychonauts. Psycadets are to Psychonauts as freshmen are to grads.

"Milla, that didn't tell them anything!"

"No, darling, it told them what they needed to know. When I was working at the desk a couple years ago, that was the extent of information I wanted to know. If it was more than a paragraph, I'd give it to a Psycadet to summarize. They're wonderful for that sort of thing, darling."

He fixed her with that dry gaze that she would expect of anyone other than Sasha. "Milla, most people aren't like you."

"Trust me, Sasha, the desk people hate dealing with long reports. It's a great way to help teach the Psycadets, though."

He heaved a sigh, fixed her again with that dry stare, and left the computer room. She knew it must be exasperating for him, dealing with her. He was just so… different, now.

She had noticed that he was getting like that as he released the control of his cube. It was like he was in puberty, with all the feelings. God forbid that his voice got any lower, or she wouldn't be able to understand a single word he said. This seemed more like the emotional side of puberty, though. It was… interesting, to be married to someone with the emotional maturity (he understood love, yes, but not that many other emotions) of a middle-schooler.

Yeah, it's kind of repetitive, I know, but it's hard to say Sasha's having emotional problems and put that in a story format. That's, what, the second time I've had Sasha swear in this story. The firs time was when he wasn't awake, and now he's stressed, which I think most teens and preteens can relate to.


	8. Rubix

Chapter 8: Rubix

Hey, I really need a new chapter! It's hard to figure out what to do with Sasha now because… Sasha has emotions now! I had heckuv writer's block for EVERS! I still don't have anything good, but here's the next chapter!

New disclaimer: I don't own anything made by the company that makes rubix cubes.

-remember that Sasha is dealing with the kind of emotions he hasn't felt since he was a little kid. Assuming that he's in his early to mid thirties, he's going to be really different from the Sasha who originally attracted fangirls-

Sasha: What was HAPPENING to him! It was like… he was having all of these bursts of emotion, and there was no way to control them. It was like some of his classmates when he was in middle school. But… He was thirty-two! He was over twice that age! What the heck was up!

Milla: Sasha was still acting oddly. She knew he'd get over it. It was just the emotions. His cube was becoming a bunch of cubes, and he wasn't making as much action to combine them. She'd noticed that he'd been doing a lot of rubix cubes lately. Then he swore at them and gave up. She was kind of bored of dealing with a teenager, so one day, she went over to talk to him. As per usual, he was slumped on the couch with a rubix cube twisting around in the air in front of him.

"You know, darling, there's an easier way to do those little cubes."

"Yes? And what way would that be?"

"The way with the screwdriver. See, darling…" she took a screwdriver from the air next to her, "you take the screwdriver, and you pry out one of the little corner cubes, then you can take the other cubes out with telekinesis. That way, you can just put them all back in the way you want them."

"Milla, that's called cheating."

"No, darling, it's called getting Sasha back over to his experiments where he wants to be."

sigh "Okay, Milla, if I do it the way you want me to, will you stop bugging me?"

"Yes, Sasha."

"Okay."

The little cubes flew off of the center, mixed themselves around, and clicked back into their slots in the base structure. "Now will you leave me alone?"

"About rubix cubes, yes, darling. But I also want you to know that I'm still here for you, and if you ever want to talk, I know what you're going through, and I went through the same thing when I was in middle school and high school. You were just too closed off, so you're dealing with it now."

"Milla?"

"Yes, darling?"

"I love you, but let's never speak of this again."

"If you like, darling."

She retreated to her own mind; there were things she had to look at on the race. One section attracted more than the usual amount of censors, and she had to know why.

Sasha: Milla cared for him, and it hurt him that he was hurting her. He just couldn't seem to get anything right anymore. Then he though about it. If Milla could mix around a rubix cube and fit it back together… Why couldn't he do the same thing with his mind? Why hadn't he thought of that before? More importantly, why didn't he want to now?

It was too much to think about at once. He went to his experiment table. That would take his mind off of this "emotion" stuff.

Hopefully.

Milla: Floating invisibly behind Sasha, she saw that he was working on his experiments again. That made her happy, because that was the Sasha she loved.

It was who he was going to be once he was able to control his emotions.

She knew that she had given him a way to.

She just didn't know if he was going to use it.

From the activity in his head, she could tell that he was using the rubix cube method.

Now, she had to look at her mind and the censor buildup in the tunnel of the race.

To Violetwitch: It took me awhile, but thanks for reading my fanfic! Sorry I didn't comment on your review, especially since I asked you to! I don't think I was thinking too well that day, then I looked at the author of Cursed while I was reading it, and I remembered that you'd reviewed it. Sorry!


	9. California

Chapter 9: Many Complex Cubes

Yeah the story's getting boring. I'm probably going to end it soon. I'm running out of ideas.

Milla: Sasha, being Sasha, had figured out what she had told him to do, and made it go his way. His mind was now composed of about twenty large cubes. There was one cube for every emotion, major time of his life, and friend that he did or used to have. There was also a cube for every genre of knowledge he had. For example, he had a "cooking" cube, albeit a small one. She'd had a wonderful time jumping around his mind.

Sasha: At last, his mind was organized. He smiled to himself. It had only taken half and hour to organize a couple hundred cubes and make them into a couple dozen cubes. He now had an "emotions to be dealt with soon" cube, which, after the incident with Razputin, he really needed.

Milla: "Hello, darling, I can't believe you're done already. Will you go to sleep now? We just got a commission. We need to go to California."

He sighed.

Oh, well. It was the Sasha she'd fallen in love with, and that was the important part.

She, herself, plaited her hair into two long braids and read herself to sleep.

_The next day_

"Darling, I know that there's some male pride thing going on here, but you've never even been in this state before and if you don't ask for directions in the next two minutes, then I'm going to do it and embarrass you, and I know you couldn't stand that, darling."

Sasha: Milla was starting to get on his nerves. "Milla, I know exactly where we are." _Or at least I can find it._

_Guess what, darling? I'm reading your mind right now._

"Darn you, Milla."

"Thank you, darling." She smiled at him, mocking him. That was encouragement. He found the Los Angeles Psychic Institution in about three minutes.

Milla: How dumb did he think she was? She knew that Sasha could never ask for directions, and making him think that he had to would make him find wherever they were going. It worked 100 of the time.

"Okay, darling, we're finally here! Oh, and try to look less… cubical… than you usually do."

"What's wrong with me? You're the party girl!"

"Exactly, darling. California isn't DC." She kissed him on the cheek. He just didn't get it.

_A little bit later_

"Oh, Sam! This is where you've been all these years! Why didn't you tell me, darling?"

"Because I thought you'd be coming to Cal, too! I think the big question is, why didn't you come here?"

"Well, there's that summer camp I go to every summer, and then Sasha finds himself somehow incapable of fitting in over here…"

"Oh my god! You have a boyfriend now!"

"Better! I'm married, Sam!"

"Oh my god! You're lying!" there was no questioning about why she hadn't been invited to the wedding. Samantha was a psychic. She understood.

"No, Sam, I'm not. It's so wonderful! But, you know, this is a really important mission, so…"

"Yeah, I get it. The front office is right over there. I'm off to the beach!"

"Thanks, Sam, bye!"

"Milla, we really need to start our mission! You can't just sit here wasting your time!"

"I haven't seen her since high school, darling. We needed to catch up on everything!"

"With fifteen sentences?"

"Yes, darling. With fifteen sentences. Now let's get going."

As they entered, Milla pulled her Psychonaut ID badge as Sasha did the same with his.

"Agents Nein and Vodello, here to receive information cube number…" she pulled a little slip of paper from her pocket. "56293."

If you're reading this, it might seem weird that they'd put private information at the front desk, but even basic psychic defenses are really strong.

The attendant looked at their identification, typed some stuff in the computer, scanned the cards, and handed them back to the agents.

"Sufficient. Let me find the cube."

He gave her a tiny little cube.

"Have a great time in LA, Milla!"

Sasha sighed and rolled his eyes.

Sorry I didn't update yesterday. My sister had to format this PowerPoint presentation, so I didn't have that much time to type.

I haven't finished the meat circus yet, but my sister showed me the end cutscene. Now I know all that stuff.


	10. Rubix Solved

Chapter 10: Rubix Solved

I'm back! I just didn't have any story ideas for awhile, and I had like a month or so of writer's block on this story, so I just haven't written. I've been working on making Super Smash Bros., Melee comics instead. If anyone wants to discuss the immorality of "Zero Suit Samus" in the new SSB, I'm all, uh… eyes. You can't really get good results from listening to an e-mail. So my optical nerves are ready! XD

Oh, and I have a large collection of new smileys that I might be using in some of these little notes.

So, since you've waited long enough…

The worst part, Sasha though at dinner (Milla had learnt not to disturb him when he was that deep in thought) was that he had always been able to solve rubix cubes ever since he had begun organizing his mind as a cube. It was exasperating because that was the thing that he was really good at. Other psychics could shoot, and organize their minds, but he was the best at rubix, even though he didn't cheat like everyone else did (one of the many uses of Clairvoyance). The smaller blocks had always just made sense, but now… was it because he had spread out his cube? Had marrying Milla really been the wrong thing to do? It had seemed right then, but…

Milla, of course, was honest about cheating. She didn't even use Telekinesis to hold up the pieces.

Eventually, of course, when she was halfway done with her dinner, Milla put her hand on Sasha's shoulder.

"Sasha, darling, a little puzzle-cube means nothing. Have some food, and we'll watch a movie, and go to sleep, and you'll feel better in the morning. Just forget about it for now. You'll get the hang of it again. You've just made a lot of changes in your life, and you just need some time to get used to it. It's like… a sunburn. It hurts for awhile, then it all peels off and the dead skin is darker and can't be damaged as easily. You just need your mind to adjust, and shuffle itself around until it's in the right order, then it won't happen as easily in the future and you'll be fine."

"…And you're sure you never got a degree in psychology?"

"Darling, if I had, I wouldn't be comparing your mind to a sunburn."

That made sense.

"Oh."

"Yeah, I'm just good at working with people. It actually keeps the camp from needing a certified therapist. The kids have told me that they trust me more than anyone else. And I feel good because I'm helping them."

"Oh. That makes sense."

Milla smiled, that smile that meant she was up to something. He accepted that she was trying to divert his mind from the evil little 27-part (26 outer pieces, one center piece) cube. He was actually kind of glad that she was. Maybe she was even right. Maybe one day he'd wake up and he'd be good at doing rubix cubes again.

Maybe, but not probably.

For now, it felt good to try to forget the whole thing.

They had dinner, then had some popcorn (they each got a whole bag because they both liked different kinds) and watched Lord of the Beans, which Milla had bought for herself. Sasha had to admit that it actually was pretty funny. They had just gotten to the part after everyone except for Toto meets the dude who sings the song about his umbrella, when Milla paused the film and called out, "Okay! Time to get fuzzy blankets, baby!"

She ran to their room to get the "fleece" blanket (the kind that's popular now, only she'd used 2 pieces and cut/knotted the edges herself) that she'd been using for the past few weeks to stay warm at night. She came back, stopped nest to Sasha, threw the blanket over them both, then pressed "play" on the VCR via telekinesis, then she cuddled next to Sasha. He put one of his arms around her and smiled a small smile at her. Meanwhile, all of the 3D vegetables on the screen were going to the Red Gate into the Land of Woe, under the advice of a singing scallion with an umbrella.

Yes, that's actually a part of the movie. My sister got the DVD as an Easter present from her friend.

Later, they started sort of doing their own stuff. Milla was knitting some of her little multicolored squares, and Sasha was absently fiddling with a rubix cube. Right when Ahem was talking about going into a sugar coma (you kind of have to watch the movie) he noticed something.

The rubix was solved.

"Ich hab es getan!"

"Sasha, darling, what does that mean? Say it in a language we both understand."

She paused the DVD.

"I've done it, Milla! I've solved the rubix cube! You were right!"

"With these things, Sasha, I usually am. I'm not as good at math and science as you, darling, but I'm much better than you at most videogames, and I understand people. But I actually was wrong, darling. I thought you were going to get it in the morning." She kissed him on the cheek.

He hugged her.

Milla just cuddled up and smiled. All was right in her world: she was okay, Sasha was happy, and they were together.

Okay, since I know that I'm never going to write another chapter (way too hard to get new ideas) I just decided to end it. Ten chapters is more than enough. And I took the German part from Zig, ch. 3. It means, "I've done it!" My mom translated the original for me. And I'm the one who's cut/knotted a whole bunch of those blankets, and I'm knitting the squares with many, many threads. It's called "intarsia," and it would take way too long to explain to people who couldn't care less.

And so the story ends. I think it was good. They're both happy, Sasha's mind works right again, and they're married to and partnered with each other.

Doesn't Sasha seem like someone who would be really good at rubix cubes though?


End file.
